Youtube Video- The Paint Ball Project Day 25

Bilal greets his audience saying the volume of fire has been very heavy, and again, from global visitors. The biggest problem of the day was that the rapid rate of fire, with shots being fire sometimes less than a second apart,was the supply of paint balls had been almost exhausted. He had sent a friend to the paintball store to try and obtain more, his usual supplier having run out of stock.

Following up on the previous days report, he notes that thousands of rounds had been expended the previous day. He walks through the gallery space behind the camera and pans over the stacked boxes now empty of paintballs. Due to supply problem he considered switching to rubber or plastic balls. As he pans and moves we have a more complete sense of the gallery space, with the gun, the doorway into the yellow room and the computer monitor where he works. He notes that people(presumably online) mentioned that the camera on the gun had shifted so that the barrel was no longer centered. He demonstrates how he has turned the computer monitor so that he can see how the gun camera is aligned on the barrel. He then pans up and to the right so we can see his hand adjusting the gun camera. The gun is still moving and firing as he attempts the adjustment.


"There are people dedicated to moving the gun away to the left" says Bilal. "That is very heart touching" he says. he goes on to say that many people are participating with the chat room, and many are simply panning the gun but not firing. He says bye for now and the segment ends.

When the video resumes Bilal says it is Lunch time and he pans the camera over to a friend who introduces himself as MannCK Bartlett. Bartlett has brought him a lunch of a peanut butter chocolate shake and a Cobb salad. Bilal is noticeably brighter in mien when he has visitors in the gallery space. Bilal pauses the video to have lunch.

When the video resumes, bilal again has a more tense expression on his face. He is again framed against the gallery windows looking out onto the street. Due to the shortage of paint balls he says he had switched to rubber rounds. However, he had found a company in Illinois who had stepped in and would provide paintballs for the duration of the project. He thanks PMI for their donation of paintballs and CO2 for remaining 6(in fact it would be seven)days of the project. He thanks the community for this and he says he thinks the community thanks them(PMI) for this. With that he says good bye.



The second video for day twenty five begins with Bilal talking on a mobile phone. he says that he had been talking to the paint ball store and that they had no more yellow paint balls. He said they were down to a single case, but more would be coming the next day. Saying he would update us later, the brief segment ends.

When the video resumes he said PMI "did not come through". It said now he had to call another supplier now for the next days supply. He said tht PMI had called back and said "they could not support the project". He said they said it was not broader politics but internal policies due to a recent merger. Bilal has walked out of the yellow room, into the front area of the gallery and lifts his goggles, and shakes his head. The furrows of his brow and the squint of his eyes suggest great concern. He says he is both disappointed and appreciative of PMI's position. He groans as he rises from a sitting position. The sound of voices and the crack of paintballs being fired can be heard as he dials the other supplier. he is silent for a moment then says he is calling discount paint ball. However, it seems to take a long time to connect, and he apparently adjusts his phone volume. Finally, he announces himself into the phone. The conversation seems to have long pauses where Bilal seems to be on hold. Bilal says to the camera, as he waits, that he doesn't want to use the rubber balls because they are more painful and"bounce back". "yes! ok, ok, yeah, ok oh great!" Bilal asks if they will be able to ship them, as otherwise he will need volunteers to collect them. Bilal offers this synopsis "They located 20 cases of yellow 'paint'[balls] and mark talked to PMI who weren't going to donate it but would negotiate a better price."

Bilal zooms into his face as he says he hopes this will be sufficient paint to finish the project, and signs off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklAAwy1dUQ&feature=related

questions- is this an art-game or game art?
How does this piece of performance art negotiate the line between spectacle and mundane performativity?----------->Webcam society/Rock band community- panopticon/

Compare- Doom, Domestic tension, Virtual Jihadi, Cremaster and "Shoot"